Ever Constant
by Shizuku Tsukishima749
Summary: The last thing she told each of them as she left the future, and the first thing she bestowed as she returned: "I love you, you know."
1. Wired

_A/N: _This is the first Titans story I've ever published. This takes place during the episode, "How Long is Forever?" After having watched it very recently (last weekend or so), Star's relationship with her friends (as their future selves and the way their present selves are effected by her retelling at the end) seemed so beautiful that I had to write _something_. This was my idea, and this is the first chapter of six: one for each of the future Titans, one for the future Titans as a whole, and one for all of the present as a whole (after she comes back).

_A/N: _This is _friendship love _only, but I suppose you may see it as you wish. To each his own, right?

_Disclaimer_: I do not own Teen Titans. I'm not totally sure who does, but I sure don't. XD

* * *

**Ever-Constant**

Cyborg faced away from her, staring down at the once glowing circuitry in his arms, and regrettably admitted he was obsolete, that he wouldn't be able to leave the Tower to help her find the others. He turned to her, and she was startled to see the faintest, yet building trace of tears in his human eye.

Concerned, she narrowed her eyes and titled her head to the side, observing him closely to discover the cause of the water droplets. All at once, she realized: _she _was the instigator.

He was conflicted; anguished at the thought of her going alone into a world she didn't know, what with the man whom had taken her away for twenty years still roaming about, but also tender at the idea of seeing friends with whom he'd had limited to no contact in those same two hundred and forty months.

He didn't like it, and she was grateful for his protective instincts. Yet, she did not blame him for his limitations; they were merely things that happened in this life that could not be reversed or prevented, something she had quickly learned after coming to this planet.

That did not make the hindrances any more right, however. If anything, the entire situation was a dilemma foreign to this place she had called home, making it even more wrong than it had seemed before. The fact that she had always known the limits of her friends, that she had been the one to understand and occasionally patch wounds brought on by them, that this was a thing utterly new…

She felt impossibly powerless.

She had never _been _completely powerless prior to now, and she detested the feeling of it straight away. Mentally shaking herself so as not to dwell on it, she shifted her attention back to her half-metal companion.

Her eyes widened as she realized the tears mounting in his eye had begun falling a while back, and she took a slow, small step closer to him in worry. The liquidized diamonds continued to trail down his face as they looked each other in the eyes.

It was not often that Cyborg, in her time or any other, showed any sort of weakness, but now that he was…she hadn't recalled how much it hurt. She bowed her head with closed eyes, clutching her tightly folded hands to her chest, and breathed deeply before raising her head.

Flying the rest of the distance to land in front of him, unsure if her legs would be strong enough to get her there ahead of collapsing, she opened sympathetic eyes and laid a gentle hand upon his cheek, as she had when she'd first arrived.

Seeing him so broken was an unwelcome, unwanted sight, and she loathed it. She wished there was some way for her to assist him, but she knew that if Cyborg didn't know how to help himself, she would stand no chance against Earthen technology.

She affectionately let her thumb glide across his dark cheek to wipe away the salt water; even she knew what liquid would do to his systems, for she had seen it happen in a few of their fights. Letting her fingers splay across his temple, palm still cupping the would-be dimple in his cheek that would become real if a smile was at all possible, she flew up the required four inches to be level with his face.

Her green eyes meeting each of his, robotic and dark blue alike, without a hint of judgment or lack of fondness, as always, she leaned in to kiss his weathered, slightly damp cheek. Pulling back, the second-eldest Titan touched ground again.

As he rested a much larger, much heavier hand on her hair, she smiled at him sadly, grasping the hand and taking it from behind her head to be held between them with both of her own. Strong and young as he remembered them, he carefully squeezed the delicately chiseled fingers, she squeezing back just as cautiously. Between the two of them, chronic damage was not improbable.

Releasing the hand all too soon for either of their liking, the young Tamaranian flew backwards, toward the entrance to what had been their living room.

Gazing at him for the longest moment, the two did not wish to part at all. Even so, they knew of their duty to their teammates, as well as the people of Jump City who were depending on them in their own time, and if there was any way to keep this from being their future, they were not doing a very good job of protecting either by standing around.

"I love you, you know." It was a quiet, lulling phrase, echoing powerfully in the equally silent chamber. Cyborg's heart softened immediately, body and eyes relaxing as she had intended; a genuine smile of mutual emotion appeared on his face.

"I know…" It was a whisper, one only meant for her ears, and one he'd dearly meant.

In the next instant, she was gone, had disappeared through the indented door and down the hallway, out into the cold night.

* * *

_A/N: _Again, meant as friendship only, but take it however you like. Out of all of the Titans, I see Starfire (and Cyborg, strangely) as the most affectionate, BB next (when he's 'sober', if you know what I mean).


	2. Caged

Cyborg's directions on how to track down Beast Boy were fresh in her mind as she flew toward the park. As he had said, just past the bridge, huge circus tents with pennant flags rose up, and she caught sight of a large cage to her far left side. A poster was taped to a pole a few feet in front of the cage, and she curiously flew toward it as its top corners bent to the cold wind's will.

Feet soundlessly sinking into the snow, she pressed down the flyaway flaps. Gasping with shock, her eyes widened as she realized Cyborg had unfortunately been right about her green friend's fate, as was depicted on the advertisement: a grass-hued merge of numerous animals' heads and limbs, and above the drawing, the words, 'One Man Zoo: Freakish Wonder.' He really _had _reduced his talents to circus tricks…

Looking beyond the pole and its contents, she painfully watched as Beast Boy morphed into different animals and played with a ball for an audience of two boys. They were disinterested, that she could even tell with their backs turned toward her, meaning he could see it, too; when they chucked snowballs at and taunted him, he merely hid. Somehow, she knew this wasn't the first time this had happened.

Right after they left, she flew to him, and he dazedly crawled from his hiding place, morphing from pig back to human on his way. His mouth was dry and open in astonishment, green eyes expanding beyond the normal limit.

She had never thought one of her friends would look at her that way, like he had never been so happy to see someone whom loved him, and she could guess the reason. He had been put through this same abuse for years, and to finally have someone treat him kindly, especially the _cause _of his reversion… She blinked back tears, gripping the cage's bars carefully so as not to crush them.

"_Starfire_…?!" His deeper, disbelieving voice startled her from her understandings, and she yelped in surprise. His gloved hand came to rest upon hers soothingly, and as she lifted her head, there was a sad, relieved smile on his face. She frowned as she laid her other hand on his, eyes darkening. She had been the source of so much pain…

Regardless, she told him of her mission and readied herself to vaporize the bars with her starbolts, but he pleadingly yelled for her to stop. Confused, she lowered her arms and let go of her fury, her countenance worried as she assessed the fear in his eyes. Had he gone crazy during her absence? Was she supposed to believe he actually _liked _this way of life?!

He sighed heavily and partially averted her eyes as he recounted what he had done since her disappearance, morphing into a chicken to emphasize his point without having to say it. Hearing about Beast Boy going solo, being without his friends, was one thing she'd never expected; making them laugh was what kept him breathing, or so she could deduce, and without that criterion being implemented…he had given up.

Now, more than ever, she wished she had never gone after Warp.

"I am sorry, Beast Boy," Her voice shook, head was bowed, and shoulders trembled without aid from the cold. She was a pitiful spectacle, indeed, and the man didn't know how much more he could take. "It is my fault you are like this, why everyone is unwilling to communicate. I did not know this would happen, but I am sorry to have been the one to trigger your predicament. Will you forgive me?"

Reaching through the bars again, ones that shouldn't have been there in the first place, his free hand's gentle fingers pushed up her chin. Tears glittered in her emerald eyes, and it took all he had to keep salty crystals from his own; he had never seen Starfire cry before, but now, he knew he never wanted to see it again.

"Why are you apologizing, Star? This wasn't your fault. We chose to end things; we chose to do what we did with the rest of our lives. This," he gestured to the cage around him, to the people and places in his mind they couldn't see, "has nothing to do with you…okay?"

She was touched by his attempt at reassurance, which she showed in her appreciative half-smile, but she couldn't bring herself to be truly comforted. Already, two of her friends had denied her their abilities in her effort to stop Warp, though each had had either a physical or psychological excuse. If Robin, should he be locatable, and Raven did the same, what would she do…?

Glancing up at Beast Boy, overweight, bald, and aged as he was, she couldn't bear it if the others said no as well. She _needed _to get back to her own time, _needed _help, but her friends were too busy dwelling on the work of the Wreckmas to notice much of anything else.

She didn't blame Beast Boy for his cowardice, of course. She knew how hard it was to get back up after being forced down so many times, how long it took for the physical pain to go away. She had experienced very similar torments on her own planet, when she had been young and in combat training with her sister.

Blackfire would always render her barely conscious before Galfor realized and stepped in to stop her assault. It would take days for some of the bruises and cuts to heal, and even then, they would be replenished in surplus the next time around.

Despite everything, Starfire had loved her sister dearly, thinking she only meant to prepare her for any opponent that should cross her path. Yet, she had been 'naive', as the Earthlings say, to the fact that there were emotional scars to go along with the physical ones.

Blackfire had never been especially kind to her sister, and it had only been when she had visited recently that Starfire was able to see the heartbreaking truth. Her sister had gone so hard on her growing up because she'd been jealous of her, and she had finally allowed that jealousy to overtake her to the point of trying to get rid of the redhead for good.

She had been repeatedly emotionally and physically kicked all her life, and so, in a way, she felt Beast Boy's pain.

Coming back from her reverie, she locked eyes with the green shape-shifter, much older than the fourteen-year-old she remembered. Even if he had protested, her heart still knew this was her doing, making her more determined than ever to fix it.

If she was going to mend it at all, she would have to leave soon. First, however, there was something she needed to do.

Giving him a tiny, mostly legitimate smile, she beckoned him to come closer with a wave of her hand. Puzzled, he shuffled forward on his knees, and when he was close enough, she slipped her thin arms through the bars and wrapped her arms as best she could around his form, laying her head on his chest.

She heard his heart beat faster, sensed the rise in his body temperature and bumps sprout on his skin. It had been a long time since he had gotten a hug, received affection of any kind, and he was not about to pass it up as he returned it strongly.

Closing her eyes and grinning, she relished his warmth, heightened by his unfamiliar girth, and took in the pulse and sound of his heartbeat eagerly. She had not had many opportunities to embrace Beast Boy in her own time, though she was sure he would gladly have accepted it, and she would not let this chance go to waste.

They stayed that way for numerous minutes, but she reluctantly pulled back in the end, neither of them yet willing to release the other. Even so, they both knew she had a duty, one with which he was ashamed to have refused to facilitate, and there was no getting around it. She would have had to leave eventually, no matter what.

As a sudden thought occurred to her, she plaintively looked to the dark skies above them, brow furrowed. Gradually, she brought her face down to peer at him, calm again.

"I love you, you know." Her voice was almost imperceptibly tight, yet still strong and hopeful, and he reacted in much the way Cyborg had. A soft smile graced his green lips, eyes sparkling as his body, mind, and heart were put at ease, if just for the moment. The words only made clearer what was already written across his face.

"I know…" It was a confirmation; one not new to them, but precious all the same. Their relationship had grown stronger since their encounter with the Nature Brothers, Thunder and Lightning, and they had been known to profess such things to each other in private.

In the following moment, she was gone, a path of green energy trailing her as she headed for the final, known destination.

* * *

_A/N: _When it says (at the end), '...they had been known to profess such things to each other in private', I mean they express _friend love_. Whatever you prefer, though.

_A/N: _Thanks to those whom have favorited/alerted/reviewed so far! Your support is very much loved!


	3. Blinded

_A/N: _I'm sorry this one's shorter than the others (988 words before editing, not counting these and the disc.), but in my defense, Raven's future was the shortest glimpse of them all! lol. Anyway, hope you like it, especially the reviewer/favoriter/alerter that said they always thought Star took Rae's insanity a little too well! I tried!

_Double Disclaimer _(I forgot, last chapter)_: _I do not own Teen Titans. I guess DC Comics does...and anyone else affiliated with them. If I had owned them, I would still show the program regularly and have put all supposed-to-be twenty episodes in the final season...

* * *

She walked through the rusty, abandoned building. It was spooky and looked ready to collapse any day now, the only sound being the buzzing of a broken, flickering light just in front of a door. From under the door, an ethereal, white glow was emitted.

Cyborg had told her about this room. This was—

Tightly grasping the knob with one hand, she closed her eyes and breathed. She could do this; she _had _to do this.

Abruptly finding herself sightless as she opened door, the girl barely bit back a startled outcry, throwing her arms in front of her face. There was nothing to fear, though, which she discovered as soon as she lowered her limbs and squinted.

The entire room was bathed in the purest white she had ever seen, and she almost didn't realize anyone was there with her until her eyes adjusted completely. When they did, she gasped quietly, eyes widening.

This couldn't be Raven. It _couldn't _be…

Dressed in the same shade of non-color as the room, her back was hunched toward the door. If Cyborg had been frightened by her regression when he'd last seen her fifteen years ago…she found herself very afraid now.

She knew Raven would never hurt her, of course; they had grown closer after their encounter with the Puppet King, and she dearly hoped that hadn't changed in the years without her. Yet, if what her half-metal friend had said was true, she might not have much hope of that.

Clenching her fists, she grit her teeth in determination. She wouldn't let that happen.

Garnering her courage, she found her voice and forced it from her throat.

"Raven…" She kept her voice quiet and gentle; if she was going to get help from someone whom had shut herself away for twenty years, she would have to take it slowly, no matter how much it would hurt. "It is Starfire, your friend!" Pausing, she waited for a response.

A raspy, almost inhuman voice introduced itself to the strained conversation, and Starfire yelped in fright, eyes turning green and raising an equally green, glowing hand. She did not recognize the voice, but to whomever it belonged, said being would not hurt Raven. She would make sure of that!

"No such thing…" She was confused. What right did the voice have to say a thing? It began again, and she froze, not daring to breathe. "It's just another figment. Don't even look…" The voice now sounded weary and wounded beyond compare. "It has to go away. Just like before. Just like _all _the others…"

The woman shifted away from her, retreating further into the refuge of white she had created for herself, though the disconnected progression had gone on almost like a constantly interrupted kaleidoscope.

All at once, the world crashed down on Starfire.

_This _was Raven; this hallucinogenic, worn, cocooned sorceress… The alien girl buried her face in her hands, suddenly feeling the disgustingly appropriate desire to retch.

To think that all of this had been her fault— She stopped there, sure going any further would compel her to involuntarily soil her friend's living space. The springs of tears flooding her eyes could not be quelled so easily, however, and she soon felt liquid salt streams searing her frozen cheeks and chin.

"R-R-Raven, I—" She found she couldn't talk yet; the tears and her own despair were choking her past that point, and she wrapped her arms around herself to keep the cold from penetrating her more than it had.

She waited countless minutes, hoping to get a reply from the voice she now recognized as Raven's. After not having been used for the majority of twenty years, she was rather surprised the vocal cords worked at all, but she wasn't sorry. She was glad to know the truthful severity of her friend's descent into the abyss of despondency, never mind how much harm it was inflicting on her.

Wiping the last traces of tears from her face, she watched the woman with anxious, hopeful, sorrowful eyes. She could only pray she wouldn't be turned down again, but given the half-demon's state of mind, she didn't know if she would get a sane response or even a response at all. Still, she had to try.

"Raven, I am in need of your assistance," She cautiously stepped forward, but only once, not knowing how much the telepath would be able to handle. The woman did not flinch, and she felt braver as she spoke, walking numerous paces toward her. "Our friends are in trouble, and I cannot let the future remain as we know it. I must find the man who made our future this way, and I can only do it with your help."

No response whatsoever.

Raven's earlier, haunted words came back to her, and if she hadn't been scared before, she was now. Standing right behind her, it required all of her valiance to raise a hand and allow it to gradually drift forward with her next words.

"Your mind…" She was unashamed of the fact that her voice was trembling. "Without friends, you must have—"

The appendage coming to hover over the white-clad one's shoulder dropped sluggishly to rest there. Just before it reached the desired place, however, a literal raven of dark energy shot up in a protective barrier between the woman and herself, and she jumped back.

After all of that, she hadn't gotten through. The sorceress had grown more powerful in her isolation, it seemed, and this minuscule conjuration was only a small testament to that. She could and would doubtless do more than her fair share of injury to the girl if she dared go on with this already failed attempt-at-rescue.

No. No more.

Hanging her head for a moment, she raised her head to glance at the empath once more, unshed tears glazing her eyes as she backed up slowly.

Before departing, she said one more thing; it was the most important thing Raven had heard in twenty years:

"I love you, you know."

She meant it, as she had with everyone else, but this utterance had a little more force behind it. If her pleas for help had not been enough to break the telepath from her self-imprisonment, perhaps this could. Even if it didn't, at least she would know.

With that, she managed the barest smile, slipped outside, and shut the door.

* * *

_A/N: _I had this finished last night, but I came back from T-or-T-ing tonight and found I forgot something: the _most important part_! I forgot the 'I love you'! So, I added that in quickly; hopefully, it still works! XD


	4. Missing

_A/N: _I am _so, so, so sorry _for the absolutely pathetically late update! I'm...oh my crud, _October_ (Cool, I updated last on Halloween!)? _Seriously_? T.T I'm _so sorry! _If any of my amazingly faithful reviewers are still with me, _thank you, thank you, thank you! _You have _no idea _how much that means to me after I've been so horrible! I had so much going on at school with projects, tests, homework, end-of-year projects, more homework, CSTs, Finals, and now AP _summer_ homework, along with so many new fics I've been trying to keep up with... Gosh, I actually _spaced this story out_! O.o

On the bright side, I had more than half of this chapter already written before I was reminded of it tonight, and I was determined to finish it before I went to bed tonight!

So I hope you enjoy this _very late _fourth chapter of 'Ever-Constant!' Rock on, and _thank you all! Love you!_

* * *

She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this lost, this alone, this wholly and wretchedly _dead_. She had lost all hope of finding Warp by herself, now unfamiliar to this city she had known so well in her own time.

Snow blanketed the place, so much so that the streets and tops of buildings were not visible; the streetlights' glow was not even bright enough to shine through the thick layer of ice that had formed on them. And the fact that no one was around only made her feel more alone than ever.

Suddenly, snow was thrown up all around her as energy blasts barely missed their target. She shrieked in frightened surprise, raising her arms to protect herself. The raid stopped for an instant, and she glanced up, eyes glowing neon green. She could just make out the assailant, who was perched atop a building just to her left: Warp.

"Feeling a little down, sweetheart? I warned you about what would happen if you broke my suit!" Warp baited, a smug smirk on his face.

Starfire growled. She would not be toyed, not anymore; she was no longer the little girl everyone had known on Tamaran. A battle cry flew from her throat as she soared upward. They began their attacks simultaneously, she shooting her starbolts at him as he fired his energy lasers at her.

His futuristic force-shield merely absorbed her efforts, and with no protection of her own, she was forced to focus on dodging. A harsh explosion of snow was seen next as Starfire was sent hurtling to the ground, the girl groaning from the toll this fight was taking on her.

As her enemy jumped from his perch to stand before her, however, she compelled her aching body to sit up and then stand; after all, she had been through far worse in her near-year with the Titans and knew by now that pain like this was nothing.

Her eyes and hand sparked menacingly as she took a few steps back, watching him at all times as she unhooked the technology from her belt and gripped it for the all it was worth. She appeared fully prepared to both attack him and destroy the device. The man smirked. He wasn't so stupid that he actually believed she would do it. It was far too important to the both of them.

"If you desire to have this back, you will fix the damage you have done to my past!" She looked so fierce as she said this that for a moment, the man feared she really would assault him, but he soon settled.

As for the red-head in question, she shuddered inwardly. The way he was looking at her now, as if she were nothing more than a brainless, pathetic extraterrestrial, made her resolve quake. His eyes pierced her soul, told her everything she didn't want to believe was true, and yet there was no other explanation.

There was nothing left for her here, he told her. The life she had known and the one she knew now could not be altered in any way. History could not be changed, no matter who she was or what she did…

She stopped listening. Falling to her knees, she took in for the first time the snowflakes as they fell softly to the ground.

There really _was _nothing she could do. Nothing could be changed, she couldn't get back, all of her friends were either unwell or missing…

She closed her eyes tightly, forcing back her tears and swallowing the scream of fear, frustration, and sorrow she felt rising in her throat. She would not give in to these fears, not yet. There would be time for that later.

Her green eyes staring dazedly at the ground, it took an appallingly small amount of effort for the broken time-traveling device to be taken from her. Finally, the condescending drone of Warp's voice came to a halt, though a peculiarly hard note on the end made her look up.

Her eyes widened and breath hitched instantly. The barrel of his arm-photon cannon was pointed right between her eyes, nearly at full-charge already.

She calmed her senses and stared sadly, resignedly, into her white, glowing fate.

Four tears streamed down and quickly froze to her cheeks.

One for each fallen friend.

She was sorry. So, so sorry.

Then, out of nowhere a war cry was heard, one strong and masculine while still retaining its youth. Starfire could not move in her shock as Warp was suddenly kicked away from her and it again and again with a bow staff. Before she knew it, the villain was gone, and her savior turned to her, face shrouded in shadow.

"It's good to see you again." She _knew_ that voice…! A warm smile came to the face of the boy—no, man—who stepped into the light, and she gasped. Tears blinded her vision, but not before she took in the way the future had changed him.

It seemed he had abandoned his more colorful uniform for one of solid black, and she mused that it complimented his newly muscular body quite nicely. His face, once the soft one of a fifteen-year-old teenager, was now the angular kind of a fully grown adult, and he had grown out his hair to have it flow down his back. His distinguishable features were kept hidden from the outside world by a mask (from what she gathered, the one thing that hadn't changed about his appearance).

She was still staring when he walked over and held out a hand to help her up. She complied, glad to see such a coherent, semi-reminiscent face in such a desolate place.

"Robin…" she said, her voice just above a whisper. She knew him, all right. Right here, right in front of her, was her best friend. He cracked a grin at the old name, eyes sparkling behind his mask. He had found her at last…

"I haven't heard that name in a long time," he admitted, his voice quiet as well, as if speaking any louder would wake him from this dream. Over the years he had had this dream so many times, though none of them had felt this real before… This _had _to be real. Because, for honesty's sake, he didn't know what he would do if it weren't…

Her eyes wandered back to where she knew his eyes would be behind his mask, and she suddenly understood very clearly just what had happened to him when she'd left. Even in this frozen environment, her skin was much paler than it should have been, and she suddenly had to fight down the contents of her stomach.

Eyes narrowing concernedly, Robin-turned-Nightwing led her away.

* * *

"So this is your new home?" she asked, looking around at the underground facility filled with gadgets, extra costumes, and top-of-the-line technology. He wrapped a warm blanket around her shoulders before walking past her to type in something on his computer.

"Yep. I built this place just after…_Warp_ happened…" he said, nearly pausing midsentence at the painful subject. But he wasn't given time to push the bad thoughts away as a shaky breath and pitiful squeak were heard from behind him. "Star!"

The girl's knees had given way again, and even in the short time it took for her to hit the floor, the tears had begun. Flowing down her cheeks, there was no stopping them as all of the pent-up pain and loss she had been feeling throughout this heart-wrenching journey were finally released.

Kneeling at her side, Nightwing hugged her tightly, curling her into his chest out of an impossible want to absorb her pain. He had always hated to see her like this…

"Oh, Robin…it is all my fault! By attacking Warp and hurting his machine, I have destroyed everything we and our friends once stood for! I have obliterated the friendships between all of you in a way that may never be repaired, and there is nothing I can do to make it right!" she sobbed, burying her head deeper into his chest. "I'm so sorry!"

Stroking her hair tenderly, he gave her a gentle squeeze. "You didn't do anything wrong, Star. You were only trying to stop a mad villain; you were only doing your job, what you thought was right—"

"But it wasn't!" Starfire protested instantly, shaking her head fiercely. "It _couldn't _have been! Otherwise, this horrible future would never be the one we have now!"

He was silent for a time, and she began shaking when the thought came to her that perhaps that meant he agreed. Just before the more violent sobs could begin, however, she felt herself being gently pushed back and held at arm's length.

Nightwing smiled at her hesitantly, though kindly, and he caressed her cheek lovingly. "I've never known you to give up so easily, Star," he said softly, and she bowed her head in shame; two gentle fingers curled around her chin and forced it upward, and she was confronted by a pair of masked, tender eyes, "so don't start now. After all, there may be hope yet."

With that, he carefully wiped the tears from her face with the edges of the blanket he'd given her and helped her to stand, keeping hold of her hand as he led her over to his computer. Pressing a button, an old, beaten-up Titans communicator sprang up from the confines, and she gasped.

Turning to him for explanation, he was first sure to press the distress signal before answering. "I've kept this all of these years, just in case." The shining of rekindled hope in her eyes was enough for him, but he did not complain when she threw her arms around his neck.

Putting down the communicator in order to embrace her properly, he held her tighter than he ever had, even in her own time. She did him as well, though she was careful that her alien strength didn't come into play. It was good to see a familiar face in the midst of all of this chaos, very good indeed.

Moving to stand on her tiptoes for some reason, he waited in curious silence as she leaned up and suddenly whispered in his ear, "I love you, you know."

Heart swelling at affection he hadn't been shown in twenty years, and especially not from her, he buried his face in her hair and breathed deeply. All sorts of scents—rusting metal from Titans Tower, hay from the One-Man Circus, sterilizer from the White Room, cleaner from his underground home—mingled in her hair and traveled up his nose. So she had been to see the others…

Clenching her strongly, he leaned down this time to whisper in her ear, "I know." There was such a rush of unbridled emotion in his voice as he said it, emotion he hadn't been willing to show everyone else twenty years ago after her disappearance. She could only smile and nod, a choked sob of happiness escaping her.

Abruptly, the alarm sounded from his computer, and he reluctantly released her to check it out. Almost instantly, he stiffened, eyes narrowing angrily and voice all snarl: "_Warp_."

* * *

_A/N: _By the way, I did my best to paraphrase some of the episode's important dialogue in this chapter, and considering I haven't watched the ep in months because the jerkfaces on You Tube have taken off the episodes...it was kind of hard. XD Hope I did all right, though!

Thanks for reading, _as always_! Rock on!


End file.
